Science and Tech

Science and Tech

A spacecraft with bright engine exhaust approaches Mars, depicted with its reddish surface and a large crater visible.
"Think of it like a transcontinental railroad — not the fastest way to move a lot of mass, but certainly the most efficient,” Jared Isaacman said about nuclear electric propulsion.
A series of solar sail spacecraft harvest solar power at night, floating above Earth's atmosphere with the sun shining in the background.
Solar power has the disadvantage that there's no Sun at night. Satellite startup Reflect Orbital wants to change that, but at what cost?
The cover of "All That We See or Seem" by Ken Liu features blurred colorful lines and glowing blue text on a dark background, perfectly capturing the enigmatic spirit of all that we see or seem.
A preview of the latest novel by the Hugo- and Nebula-winning author.
Artistic illustration depicting one of the biggest mysteries of the origin of the universe, showing entangled particles connected by curved paths in space, inspired by concepts from quantum physics and wormholes.
Inflation's two main criticisms, that it can predict anything and that the "measure problem" remains unsolved, can't erase its successes.
The Orion Nebula surrounded by stars, with a bright green meteor streaking diagonally across the image, evokes the wonder of shooting stars illuminating the night sky.
The Orionids meteor shower peaks October 20th/21st here in 2025, coinciding with a new Moon. See the brightest shooting stars of the year!
A view of deep space showing numerous galaxies of various shapes and sizes scattered across a dark background.
To learn how our Universe grew up, we have to look at large numbers of galaxies at all distances to find out. Good thing we have JWST!
A colorful, irregular galaxy with bright clusters of stars, some possibly from a generation stars before sun, and nebulae against a dark background scattered with distant stars.
Our Sun only arose after 9.2 billion years of cosmic history: with many stars living and dying first. How many prior generations were there?
Collage with hands shaping dough, overlapping U.S. flags, circular architectural elements, and "THE NIGHTCRAWLER" at the top—reflecting on the AI divide woven into the fabric of American life.
Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.
Since the time of Galileo, Saturn's rings have remained an unexplained mystery. A new idea may have finally solved the longstanding puzzle.
A person holds an oval mirror in front of their face against a blue background, with their reflection appearing abstract and distorted, evoking the surreal influence of ai on self-perception.
If AI is modeled only on human intelligence, will it inherit only human ways of seeing the world?
Two illustrations: on the left, a ball bounces back after hitting a wall; on the right, inspired by quantum advances, the ball passes through—echoing breakthroughs honored with the Nobel Prize in Physics. A child throws the ball in both scenarios.
Quantum mechanics was first discovered on small, microscopic scales. 2025's Nobel Prize brings the quantum and large-scale worlds together.
Book cover titled "Governing Babel" by John P. Wihbey, featuring a stylized blue and black illustration of a tower with small human figures walking—reflecting themes of online speech moderation.
In this excerpt from "Governing Babel," John Wihbey explores how AI is reshaping online moderation by offering tools that can help human moderators, but also raises the risk of disinformation and digital chaos.
From the vastness of space, Earth at night reveals its exo-earth beauty, with illuminated continents showcasing a tapestry of lights across North and South America. Major cities and regions emerge from the glowing darkness, painting a vivid picture against the backdrop of oceans.
In 2025, Earth remains the only planet where life is known to exist. Without a second example, "The Stand" has a vital lesson to teach us.
Green circuit board lines form three dollar signs on a dark background with faint circuitry patterns.
Behind the plateau in corporate AI lies a surge in personal and agentic use.
A split image shows a star field on the left and a COSMOS-Web survey area diagram on the right, with labeled NIRCam and MIRI footprints alongside the moon for scale, highlighting galaxies explored by JWST science.
By deeply imaging a large volume of space, COSMOS-Web provides JWST's widest cosmic views. Its gravitational lenses reveal a big surprise.
As the Universe ages, it continues to gravitate, form stars, and expand. And yet, all this will someday end. Do we finally understand how?
Collage featuring a man operating early computer equipment and a man in aviator goggles, with the text "THE NIGHTCRAWLER" above them—capturing the creative sparks of innovation and adventure.
Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.
From here on Earth, looking farther away in space means looking farther back in time. So what are distant Earth-watchers seeing right now?
An astronaut stands proudly on the moon's surface near scientific equipment and a lunar lander, as the American flag waves in the background, symbolizing a pioneering USA nation.
As October begins, thousands of longtime NASA employees are leaving the agency. 4000+ will exit by January 9, 2026, changing NASA forever.
Book cover with the title "The Formula for Better Health: How to Save Millions of Lives—Including Your Own" by Tom Frieden, MD, MPH, featuring illustrated silhouettes of people and a nod to Alice Hamilton’s pioneering work in public health.
In this excerpt from "The Formula for Better Health," Tom Frieden explores how Alice Hamilton transformed public health in her fight against lead poisoning.
a black background with circles and a star in the center.
Proposed over 2000 years ago by Democritus, the word atom literally means uncuttable. Revived in 1803, today's "atoms" can indeed be split.
Four women stand in front of a vintage computer, each holding different components of its hardware, with the computer's panel visible in the background—an image reminiscent of historical innovation studied by Angus Fletcher.
The incredible story of how the US Army began the march toward generative AI in 1943 — and what it means for your business today.
A diagram illustrating one of the biggest mysteries: the origin of the universe, from the Big Bang and inflation to today, showing the formation of atoms, stars, galaxies, and the ongoing expansion of space.
From the Big Bang to a prior period of cosmic inflation, our cosmic origins are clearer than ever. Yet these 5 big mysteries still remain.
A circular diagram illustrating the observable universe, showing planets, stars, galaxies, and cosmic background radiation layers—revealing where Big Bang echoes still linger.
If you think of the Big Bang as an explosion, we can trace it back to a single point-of-origin. But what if it happened everywhere at once?
A man in a suit walks on grass beside a long-haired dog, with faded images of a magic wand, a hat, and white doves in the blue-toned background.
A childhood spent under the spell of sleight-of-hand taught me skepticism, curiosity, and the habit of looking beneath appearances.
A smiling man with short dark hair wears a button-up shirt, standing in front of a purple, splattered-texture background.
Big Think spoke with astronomer David Kipping about technosignatures, "extragalactic SETI," and being a popular science communicator in the YouTube age.
black hole
All of the matter that we measure today originated in the hot Big Bang. But even before that, and far into the future, it'll never be empty.
Row of identical yellow rubber ducks in profile, lined up against a black background with abstract white dotted patterns, reminiscent of motifs explored by Susan Schneider.
A conversation with Dr. Susan Schneider on the AI risks we’re not talking about and why the fixation on AGI is misplaced.
As we gain new knowledge, our scientific picture of how the Universe works must evolve. This is a feature of the Big Bang, not a bug.
Black-and-white portrait of a man in a suit centered between a grid, network lines, and a swirling blue pattern evoking a hurricane, symbolizing the dynamic power of predictive intelligence.
Brian Gumbel — President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Dataminr — explores the cutting edge of real-time information analysis.